CRISTIANO RONALDO is one of the most marketable people in the world.
And it is for that reason that Nike pay him a staggering £147million to represent the brand, according to leaked contract details.
The Portugal star, 35, has been wearing Nike sportswear since his Manchester United days and is often used in commercials to promote new products or campaigns.
But it comes at a cost of around £14.7m per year after the Juventus forward signed a ten-year deal in September 2016, in an agreement between Nike and Polaris Sports Limited which owns Ronaldo’s worldwide marketing rights.
As revealed by Der Spiegel’s latest Football Leaks, though, that is just the basic rate – add on bonuses such as winning the Ballon d’Or and his earnings from Nike rocket even higher.
It is understood he was paid a whopping £18.3m in 2016 and 2017, including a cool £3.6m top-up for being the best player in the world.
Ronaldo is thought to be Nike’s highest paid athlete – ahead of the likes of Neymar, LeBron James, Tiger Woods and Rafael Nadal.
Nike’s major rivals, especially in football are Adidas.
The German company have Lionel Messi, Paul Pogba and Dustin Johnson on their books as well as tournaments such as the World Cup and Olympics.
Adidas also have artists such as Kanye West, Justin Bieber, Beyonce, Stormzy and Kylie and Kendall Jenner.
Add in Ronaldo’s other commercial deals – such as the airport named after him in Madeira and his CR7 fashion brand – and his earnings become pretty eye-watering.
And that is without taking into account his wages for doing his job… just playing football.
Ronaldo – who scored in Monday’s game against Bologna – is believed to earn £850,000 A WEEK at Juventus, which works out at approximately £44m per year.
Polaris Sports Limited did not respond to Der Spiegel’s request for comment, Ronaldo’s agent Jorge Mendes and his agency Gestifute did not comment and Nike said: “We do not comment on contracts with athletes.”
